As the author of the vetoed bill referred to in Monday’s article regarding last week’s Senate session, I thought the UA student body deserved some clarification.
The current SGA Code of Laws reads that special sessions of First Year Council (FYC) may be requested by the SGA executive vice president or a majority of FYC members. The new SGA Constitution approved by the student body last spring changed the roles of some SGA executive council members, including the executive vice president, and established the speaker of the Senate position.
The Senate elects the speaker, and he or she performs the duties formerly given to the executive vice president, serving as the leader of the Senate. Therefore, the SGA Code of Laws needs to reflect the new Constitution.
The bill I proposed (B-30-11) gives the speaker of the senate and the director of First Year Council the ability to request special sessions of FYC. SGA President Grant Cochran vetoed the bill, stating that FYC should reflect the Senate in how special sessions are requested.
Currently, special sessions of Senate are called by the SGA president or a two-thirds vote of the Senate (leaders of the executive branch or a vote of the legislative branch). After the veto, the bill was brought back to the floor by Senator Will Pylant (chairman of the Rules Committee and sponsor of the bill) and myself, and Senate passed the bill again with an amendment from Senator John Brinkerhoff to give the SGA president the ability to call FYC special sessions.
So, the bill currently reads that the ability to request FYC special sessions is given to the SGA president, speaker of the Senate, or speaker of the FYC (to be elected by FYC members as soon as the application process is complete and serve as the leader of FYC).
It is the opinion of myself, Senator Pylant and many other senators that this bill is constitutional and that FYC needs some oversight when calling special sessions. As stated in the SGA Constitution, FYC serves as a member of both the legislative branch and the executive branch (and the judicial branch on a very limited basis).
Therefore, the leaders of both the legislative and executive branches (speaker of the Senate and president, respectively) should have the right to call a special session when necessary, along with the speaker of FYC.
As the amended bill was vetoed for a second time on Tuesday, Senator Pylant and I are certain the bill will be brought to the floor again at the Senate session on Thursday and will be re-passed, overriding the presidential veto, as this re-passage has the support of many senators and members of the student body.
The student body is welcome to join us on Thursdays at 6:15 in the Ferguson Forum 360 or to follow us on twitter (@UASGA_Senate) for live updates.
Lauren is a sophomore majoring in finance and Swahili. She currently serves as an SGA senator representing the College of Commerce & Business Administration and also as the chairwoman of the Senate Committee on Ethics.
